With a Friend, From the Start
by Yoizen
Summary: AU. Self explanatory title. Born from the thought 'What if Naruto HAD a friend with him from the beginning'.


A/N: Sorry for those that looked forward to "ANO" and "TSWGOK"… This one-shot in made its way into my head while I slept; I had to write it down to not forget it! I'll work on "ANO" as soon as possible, then "TSWGOK" afterwards.

Some parts of dialogue are directly taken from the manga.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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><p>'<em>A Beginner's Guide to Monologue<em>'

Hmmm… I borrowed it from the library without thinking but it seems like a good book…

'… _First, make a quick introduction of yourself (ex: Name, birth date, gender, age, height, weight, blood type, etc.)._'

Okay, not so hard.

My name is Kobayashi Kancho, I was born on the eleventh day of the seventh month, I'm a eleven-year-old guy, I don't know my height, but I know that Naruto-nii is a bit taller than me, I don't know my weight either, and I have A-type blood.

I continued to read the second part of introducing oneself.

'… _Then, describe your past a bit, what you are doing now, and your ambitions for the future._'

Easy!

So, starting with what I'm doing now. I'm reading a book, entitled '_A Beginner's Guide to Monologue_' (that's obvious, isn't it?), while walking on a deserted road. The sun has already set and the moon was in hiding behind some dark clouds. I liked the night and its way of comforting you when no one's around. When the sky is buttoned with stars, the scenery is more beautiful, but today, it seems like the little balls of light are too shy to come out. I remember Naruto-nii telling to me how he loved nightfall, the only time of day he could go out and not get stared at with menacing eyes full of hatred, and also not having to deal with the bruises kicks and punches thrown in his way left. This leads me now to tell about the past, about how I met the notorious Uzumaki Naruto…

He and I were both orphans. He lost his parents during the attack of the Nine Tailed Fox. I was abandoned by mine; they left me in the care of the Hokage, with all the other orphans. Ever since he was little, every time he went out to play or to make new friends, the villagers all kept away from him. Following them as an example, I backed away when he was near me. Then I became aware that he must have been through a lot of pain in that lonely hell. No, he didn't cry in front of everyone; he played pranks, he annoyed people making them frustrated, he would fall "accidently" into a pool of water and make us laugh… It took some time for me to pierce through his cheerful appearance, and when I did, I realized that his prankster attitude was to get attention, and only masked away his feelings of solitude and the awful feeling of existing while nobody wanted him to. When I did comprehend his position, I approached him of my own will and made him conscious of not being alone anymore. At that instant, we became friends. I was his first friend, and he was my first one, too.

Later on, when both of us chose to be ninjas and entered the Ninja Academy, I tried to get us some other comrades. The other kids, not only did they keep away from him, but they also kept away from me, whispering about something like, "the Demon Fox's associate". After hearing me telling him this, Naruto-nii thought I would abandon him. I did not: why should I abandon my first friend and go for others that badmouthed him (and insulted me too)? I soon dropped the idea of befriending other people. Besides, I wanted to find out what the kids meant by saying "Demon Fox". I ended up in the library reading historical articles after the Academy finished. And soon enough, I found what I was looking for. He was a little shocked by the news, but he got over it. I thought it would be better if I told him that the Kyuubi no Youko was sealed inside him. We kept it a secret that he knew.

My ambitions for the future, well, I don't really have any at the moment, though Naruto-nii is always repeating that someday, he's going to become Hokage. For now, all I want to do is to help and support him as well as I can, seeing that I was his first friend.

I stopped reading the book and halted abruptly. The keys dangling on my equipment pouch made a soft noise as I took one to unlock the apartment door. The latter clicked when it opened, revealing the messy room in which Naruto-nii and I lived for the past few years. On the left was a little cabinet with an alarm clock on top, further to left was Naruto's amazingly well-kept bed, right on the wall next to the bed stuck a poster of Konoha's symbol, and on the left wall was a window, our main source of light. When I entered, the first thing I could see was my messy "bed", composed of just a mattress laid on the floor and a ruffled blanket. On my right, a mirror stood, reflecting the entrance to our room, and against the right wall, Naruto put another cabinet, this time full of instant ramen (we both shared the passion of ramen, especially the ramen at Ichiraku's). A microwave and a kettle were positioned on top of the commode, a calendar hung above it, and a piece of paper with "Naruto" written in katakana was fixed to the wall.

"Looks like Naruto-nii hasn't come home yet…"

I sighed, and then I shrugged. "Oh well, guess I'll be eating without him…"

As I prepared the hot water for the instant ramen, I laid down all the books I borrowed on my "bed", except for '_A Beginner's Guide to Monologue_', still in my hand. I sat on the piled mattress, leaned back against the wall, and continued reading further steps of monologue, while the kettle hummed for a while.

'… _Next, make a physical description of yourself and include your strengths and weaknesses._'

Let's see…

I have straight, black, neck-length hair, cut unevenly, like my short bangs that cover a portion of my forehead. Thin eyebrows are positioned above my coal-black eyes. Glasses sit on my nose (due to too much reading in the dark while Naruto's asleep) to correct my myopia. Normally, I wear a fishnet top and on top of it, a long-sleeved, light-grayish, v-neck shirt, with a design (it kind of looks like a tic-tac-toe board, except that the bottom line zigzagged to form something like two mountains). For the pants, I would usually wear dark-colored shorts (I don't know whether it's dark blue, dark purple, or just plain black). Since I'm right-handed, the kunai and the shuriken holder are situated on the right side of the shorts. I always wear my equipment pouch on my right hip (for easy handling), just in case. On my left side, well… Let's just say that my left arm helps me form seals for Ninjustu and attack or block in Taijustu (though I really should practice throwing kunais and shurikens with my left hand).

Now for the strengths and weaknesses part…

I'm more of a logic type, not action type; and I am able to observe and process what I observed, thus when using Henge no Justu (transformation technique), I can't be easily found out. What I'm not good at is perfection in aiming shurikens or kunais, so automatically I'm horrible at long-range combat.

The kettle's loud shrieking whistle took me back from the world of monologue. It alerted me that the water was ready to be poured in the cup ramen's bowl. I let flow the boiling liquid into my dinner's container. Steam filled the air above the instant noodles, and the tasty smell of hot, spicy, beef ramen reached my nose. When dinner "cooked" itself, I went back to reading '_A Beginner's Guide to Monologue_'. After five minutes, I slurped down the ramen, threw out the trash, changed into my pajamas, and brushed my teeth. Seeing that Naruto-nii still didn't come back, I dimmed the lights and went into a deep sleep…

* * *

><p>The next day…<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey, Kan! Wake up! I've got some fun things to tell you!"<p>

I rubbed my eyes, and when I opened them, I winced. Sunlight poured into the room, illuminating every corner. Naruto-nii was back (from where?). He was covered in dirt and dry blood. That immediately snapped me out of my trance.

"What happened to you? Are you hurt?"

"Nah, but I sure would appreciate some cleansing."

When he saw me giving him a "Where-have-you-been?" look, he added, "Hey, why don't I tell you where I've been last night while you're at it?"

I sighed, and heaved the medical kit out of Naruto's bedside cabinet. I pushed him into a chair, and started to rub at the dirt on his cheeks.

"I've always asked myself this but never really got an answer," Naruto started. "Why do I think you act like a girl? Isn't it a girl's job to heal other's injuries?"

"Isn't it because since you were little, you always got beaten into a pulp and got many cuts and everything, however, you've always refused to touch the medical kit?" I replied, hinting a bit of annoyance in my tone. "Anyways, never mind that. Naruto-nii, shouldn't you be telling me of what you did last night?"

He told me all about Mizuki telling him to steal a scroll containing forbidden Justus, to practice one, and show it to Iruka-sensei so he could graduate from the Academy. It turned out that Mizuki (I no longer use the sensei suffix, because I consider him no longer as one of my teachers; how can a sensei use a student for their own purposes?) just wanted the scroll for himself: he used Naruto-nii to steal the roll of prohibited techniques, and also wanted to eliminate him! Mizuki even told him that he was the demon fox!

"You should've seen his and Iruka-sensei's faces when I answered, 'I know.' They were all frozen and shocked and had that "What?" expression on their face!" Naruto blurted out laughing when he said that.

He continued recounting the events of yesterday night, and he especially emphasized Mizuki's defeat against a hundred plus of his shadow clones. He had a happy-go-lucky look on his face, now that he mastered his worst Justu. Then, Naruto-nii told me he realized that there was another person who acknowledges him in this world: Iruka-sensei.

"He risked his life by taking that windmill shuriken hit for me, even now he's all wrapped up in bandages and still hospitalized. He really is nice; this morning, he treated me to Ichiraku's ramen!"

I pouted at that, why couldn't he have taken me along? On the other hand, I was real happy that he got himself another friend in this harsh world. At the end of his tale, his clothes were already washed and he was all patched up.

"I'm one step closer to my dream of being Hokage!" Naruto-nii beamed while saying that. "Oh yeah, Kan, what will you do when you grow up?"

"Maybe be your secretary?"

"Huh? I thought secretaries were all girls!"

"Naw, who cares?"

* * *

><p>The morning of the day everyone who graduated from the Academy were to be split into four-man teams…<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto-nii and I were having breakfast, we ate simple today: toast and milk. Well, I didn't really drink the milk: it was to expire today; though he didn't really mind. When finished with eating, we both dressed up in our respective ninja clothes. Naruto-nii put the forehead protector on his forehead, of course, and I followed suit. We ran to the Academy and took our usual seats. There was a person on Naruto-nii's left, but we didn't give too much attention to him.<p>

"Huh?" A guy in our class ran pass our bench, then went back in his steps, peering at Naruto-nii. "Naruto, what the hell are you doing here? Only those who pass are supposed to be here."

"Hey hey, can't you see this forehead protector?" was my friend's simple response.

"Hey, will you let me through?"

We all turned to face the talking kunoichi. There stood Sakura-chan, the cute girl that Naruto's "kind of" interested in (I could tell that his interest level was way beyond "kind of interested"). I looked at Naruto, trying to figure out what he was thinking just by observing his expression (he was thinking something similar to "Could it be… she wants to… sit next to me?"). I thought, "No way," and took a glance at the silent person sitting next to Naruto. I palm-faced myself mentally. Of course! Sakura-chan wanted to sit next to…

"Naruto! Move your ass! I want to sit on the other side of you!"

I'm lucky that most of the time, people don't even see me.

"Huh?" was Naruto's blank reply.

I thought, "What an idiot my friend is…"

The said idiot turned his head to see the most popular guy in our class, the one he described as the "Always acting cool, number one annoying bastard".

Noticing Naruto's gaze, Uchiha Sasuke looked him in the eye and wondered why the "Worst ninja of the Academy" glared daggers at him. "What?"

That made Naruto snap.

"What do you mean, what?"

Ignoring Naruto's "impoliteness" towards her beloved Sasuke-kun, Sakura jumped on Naruto, knocking him out of view and asked, "Sasuke-kun, can I sit next to you?"

I helped Naruto-nii to get back on his seat. He was pissed off because his "love" loved another. Sakura didn't mind that, all she cared was getting near to "her" Sasuke-kun. The latter made no notice of the kunoichi scooting nearer every second towards him. The other girls in this class shot icy stares at the kunoichi on our bench; everyone knew Sasuke was popular with the girls. Naruto watched from a distance. I stared at his face, decoding once more his thoughts. My friend was pondering along these lines: "Her eyes say it all (Sakura's eyes were heart-shaped as she looked at Sasuke)… What's so good about him? I don't get it…" In a flash, the orange clad ninja found himself crouched on the table, staring again into Sasuke's eyes. Suddenly, I felt an ominous chill, thinking that what Naruto just did would scar him the rest of his life.

"Hey Naruto! Get out of Sasuke-kun's face!"

"Move!" whispered menacingly the Uchiha.

"Bah!"

All the Sasuke-kun fan girls surrounded our bench.

"Sasuke-kun, kick his ass!" cheered one.

"Yeah! Yeah!"

The following happened in an instant; it took some time before the whole class realized what happened.

The guy (Naruto and I called him "Mini-Iruka": he looked so like our teacher) sitting on the bench in front of us, normally blocking the view of the person on the left of Naruto-nii, leaned back and put his arm on our desk while he exclaimed, "Wow, really?" His elbow pushed Naruto-nii's foot, causing him to lose balance. "Mini-Iruka" turned around when noticing his mistake, adding an "Oh! Sorry 'bout that!" He was shocked at the moment he spun around: he saw two boys kissing each other with disgusted (and surprised) looks on their face. He only managed to utter, "Huh, my fault?"

The two boys broke apart, each panting and spitting and choking.

"Naruto, you bastard! I'll kill you!"

"Aah! My mouth is rotting!"

All of a sudden, a killing aura enveloped the room. It did not come from the Uchiha prodigy, but from the pink-haired kunoichi registering the scene into her mind. I spot the look on Naruto-nii's face, it seemed like he too sensed the malicious emanation. He did a volte-face, finding himself in the way of a more-than-angry Sakura.

"It was an accident…" he pleaded, shaking his hands and sweating a lot.

"…Naruto… You're… annoying!"

The mad Haruno cracked her knuckles. Naruto-nii had sweat trickling all over his face. She landed lots of punches and did a few severe blows. I had a lot of trouble restraining her from beating poor Naruto-nii. Iruka-sensei was the only person able to interfere and successfully stop the fuming (large-forehead-ed) demon.

Some minutes later…

Iruka-sensei went on talking about being ninjas and explaining what the three-man teams (excluding a Jounin) were supposed to do. I spared a brief glimpse at Naruto-nii. He was covered with bruises, and big bumps of flesh appeared on the spots where the hard blows came in contact with his skin. I never knew that a girl could do this much damage by herself and made a mental note to never get on the wrong side of a kunoichi. The sight scared me. I tried to focus my attention on listening for my name during the team roll call.

"… Next team 7: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto—

"YAY!" cried out Naruto, apparently absolutely delighted to be on the same team as Sakura.

"Damn…" muttered the latter.

"—and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Damn…" mumbled my friend, who's expression altered to a bitter and depressed face.

It was Sakura's turn to yell, "Hell yes!"

"Iruka-sensei! Why does an outstanding ninja like me… have to be on the same team as that bum? Why couldn't it be Kancho on my team?"

"… Sasuke's grades were first among all 28 graduates… Naruto… You were dead last… We have to do this to balance the teams, understand?"

"Bah." This time, Sasuke finally reacted to the situation. "Just don't get in my way… Dead last…"

"Grrr… What did you call me?"

Sakura interfered. "Just give it a rest, Naruto!"

Iruka-sensei sighed.

Naruto-nii wasn't the only one who disapproved the fact that Sasuke was to be in his team. I was downcast because I didn't belong in the same team as him. In fact, after the team roll call ended, not even once did I hear my name. Was I simply forgotten, again, or not supposed to be here? I questioned Iruka-sensei by looking him in the eye. He caught my gander and returned a brief "Wait-'till-I'm-done" look. I nodded in response.

"Okay, this afternoon, we'll introduce the Jounin senseis. Take a break 'till then."

Everyone in the class left, leaving me and Naruto-nii behind. I imitated a "tying-up-my-shoelaces" pose (even though ninja shoes didn't have shoelaces). Luckily, Naruto-nii wasn't as observant as I was.

"Aren't you coming, Kan?"

"Nah, don't wait for me. Meet you here after the break?"

"'Kay…"

There was nobody in the room except Iruka-sensei and I. He started the conversation.

"So, Kancho…"

I was surprised that he used my first name. Maybe I shouldn't be here after all, maybe Iruka-sensei just wanted to comfort me?

"… Since you're a year younger than all the graduates, you won't officially be in a team."

I knew it. The inside of me wanted to cry, though all I showed on the outside was a blank expression.

"I know that you are a good friend of Naruto's, and I want you to take good care of him."

I nodded, it was the only thing I was capable of doing at the moment. I had knots in my throat; when would Iruka-sensei say that I was to redo a year at the academy?

"I know that you are smart since your grades came second among all the 28 graduates…"

"Hmph," I grunted mentally. Always behind that Uchiha prodigy (jerk).

"… therefore, I want you to accompany Naruto, which means that you'll stay with team 7 for the time being. And when team 7 is later involved with long missions, like where you have to leave the village and where you have to fight, Kancho, you will not be part of those missions."

I brightened all at once at that; even if I couldn't go on those hard missions, I was able to stay with Naruto-nii!

"But you must be careful; I didn't put you in this team for no reason. I'm counting on you to make sure that Naruto is able to control himself and the—"

"—Kyuubi no Youko inside him, right?" I questioned with a serious look on my face.

"Ye-yeah…" Iruka-sensei was a bit baffled. I didn't mind. "So you'll, er, wait with him this afternoon."

"Thanks a lot, Iruka-sensei!" I bowed with respect.

Regaining his seriousness, Iruka-sensei added, "Now hurry up and eat your lunch, the break's almost over."

* * *

><p>Waiting for our Jounin-sensei in the almost deserted classroom…<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto-nii stuck his head through the opening of the door, squinting for our teacher. I peered above his head, doing the same thing as him.<p>

"Naruto, stay still!" And when Sakura (finally!) noticed me (despite that I've been in this room for the whole time), she asked, "Why are you here, Kancho-kun? Aren't you supposed to be gone already with your team?"

Naruto noticed the using of the "-kun" suffix. He shot me a frowned (and a bit menacing), questioning look, I shrugged in response.

"Iruka-sensei told me that I could be in your team for some time, about a year. Next year, I should have my own team (probably)."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. I took it as an "Oh great… another person getting in my way…", although I showed nothing but a friendly smile on my face.

"Why is the teacher of our team… so damn late?"

I agreed mentally with Naruto-nii. Aren't Jounin nins supposed to be pretty advanced and punctual? Naruto-nii and I were getting bored, and when we were bored, we always thought about one topic: pranks. A light bulb went off in my head. I whispered the idea into Naruto-nii's ear. Soon enough, two identical evil-looking grins found themselves hooked on our faces. Naruto set the trap.

"What are you doing, Naruto?"

"Nihihi…"

We both snickered devilishly.

"That's what you get for being late." I explained as Naruto-nii finished the setting-up part of the plan. "Now let's just sit back and watch."

"Geez… I'm not involved."

Regardless of Sakura's dull response and her serious face, I thought that I could feel a tingle of excitement coming from her.

"Pft… like a Jounin is going to fall for such a simple booby trap…"

I glared at the Uchiha prodigy, the one always in front of me in everything. "Wanna bet? You owe me a hundred ryou (ninja currency (1 ryou=10 Japanese yen)) if our sensei falls for the trap, I'll owe you if he doesn't. "

"Whatever…"

A gloved hand gripped the door and pulled it sideways. As a head appeared in the doorway, Ban! the chalk-filled duster dropped onto it.

"Gyahahaha! You fell for it!" Naruto-nii and I said in chorus.

"I'm so sorry sensei; I tried to stop them but Naruto and Kancho-kun…" I could sense that it was only an excuse; behind it was an amused Sakura giving us the thumbs-up.

Sasuke just stared at the Jounin, wondering if he was a real Jounin.

"Hmm… how can I say this…?" the Jounin started. "My first impression is… I don't like you guys."

* * *

><p>On the roof of somewhere where there are trees and a "Ten" (sky) written in Kanji on an arc…<p>

* * *

><p>"Ok… let's begin with some introductions."<p>

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

The Jounin narrowed his eyes (or eye, in his case) as he looked at me. From the looks of it, he might have been counting and recounting the number of students he had to take care of. "Ah, yes… it's true that the Hokage informed me of an additional member in this team…" he muttered to himself. Then he said, out loud so that we could all hear, "How about… Your likes, dislikes… Dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."

When he finished, what he just said made me remember '_A Beginner's Guide_ _to Monologue_'.

Naruto piped up, "Hey, hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?"

Sakura agreed. "Yeah… you look suspicious…"

"Oh… me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future… ? Hmmm… Well, I have lots of hobbies…"

"So all we learned… is his name?" The three of us nodded in accord to Sakura's remark.

"Now it's your turn, from the right."

"Me! Me! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen. What I like even more is the restaurant ramen Iruka-sensei buys me. What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the ramen to cook. My dream is to surpass all the previous Hokages! And then, have all the people of this village acknowledge my existence!" Naruto-nii adjusted his forehead protector. "Hobbies… pranks, I guess…"

"Next."

"My name is Kobayashi Kancho. I like instant ramen, and, like Naruto-nii, I like Ichiraku's ramen. Dislikes, well… not being noticed even though I'm in front of someone's eyes the whole time…" At this, I cast a furtive look at Sakura, and she blushed a bit. "Dreams for the future… none that I can think of at the moment… Hobbies… I like to read in my free time and do pranks with Naruto-nii."

"Next."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And… I don't want to use the word "dream", but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."

Leaves flew by, surfing on the invisible wind waves. Everyone was silent. Sakura looked at Sasuke with a little tint of pink on her cheeks. Naruto backed away from Sasuke. I just stared at him. During a little moment, Kakashi-sensei's eye had a serious glint in it while he observed the young avenger.

"Ok… and lastly, the girl."

"I'm Haruno Sakura, the thing I like is… well, the person I like is… Ummm… Should I say my dream for the future…?" She buried her face in her fists as she cried, "Oh my!"

"…" were mine and Kakashi-sensei's common reaction.

Sakura then continued. "The thing I dislike is Naruto."

That was more than a verbal punch for Naruto-nii. He moaned silently "noooooo…".

Sakura went on about her hobbies. "My hobby is…"

I didn't hear the rest of it. I thought, "Girls of this age are more interested in love than Ninjustu…" Judging by our sensei's pose and expression, I could tell that he was thinking along the same lines.

"Ok! That's enough of that. We will start our duties tomorrow."

"Yay!" Naruto put his hand on his forehead like when you say "roger". "What kinds of duties?" Apparently, he was very excited.

"First, we are going to do something with just the five of us."

"What? What?"

"Survival training."

Survival training, huh? Shouldn't be that hard, since we are mere rookies…

"Why is our duty training? We did enough training at the Ninja Academy."

"I'm your opponent, but this isn't normal training."

"Then! Then! What is it?"

Kakashi-sensei chuckled under his mask.

"What's so funny, sensei?" We were all pretty annoyed by now.

"No… well… it's just that… When I tell you this, you guys are definitely going to flip."

"Flip? Ha?" The four of us had question marks around our heads.

"Of the twenty-eight graduates, only ten will be chosen as Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over sixty-six percent!" He said all that with a scary expression on his face. "Haha, I told you you'd flip…"

No one said anything for the next few seconds.

"What the hell?" blurted Naruto. "But we worked so hard… Then what was the point of graduating?"

"Oh… that? That's just to select those that have the chance of becoming Genin."

"Uhh… What?"

"Anyway, tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all your shinobi tools. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll throw up." Sensei took out some pieces of paper, similar to fliers. "The details can be read on this printout. Don't be late tomorrow."

I sweat-dropped at his last words. Somehow, they didn't seem right, at least when he said it to us.

"Throw up? Is it that tough?" burst out Sakura.

Sasuke crunched the paper in his hands. Sakura wore a determined look on her face, describing her enthusiasm in staying in the same team as Sasuke. Naruto-nii couldn't read the printout, too much Kanji for him… I let the words sink in as I stared at the paper.

'_You are to be evaluated on Taijustu, Ninjustu, and Genjustu. Arrive at the training grounds at eight. Bring all your shinobi tools and use your best techniques to successfully complete the exam. Duration: one hour._'

Following the text was a map showing how to get to the training grounds and where they were situated.

"Geez, we're not kids… We know perfectly where the training grounds are…" was the only thought that passed through my head.

* * *

><p>Later, on the way home…<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto-nii and I tailed Sasuke, making sure to not be that discreet and that the Uchiha would notice. My friend, while we were hiding in some bushes, shook a branch. Lots of leaves fell onto the ground. Those made Sasuke turn around and call, "Who's there? Show yourself."<p>

Naruto-nii came out of the green lumps, acting very dismayed to be found out. He even added a scowl to make the false attitude more realistic. "Damn it!" he cursed. Then, addressing Sasuke, "I came to get the hundred ryou Kan won from you."

"Hmph… He should come and get it himself."

I snuck from behind the Uchiha, trying with all my might to be invisible.

"I also want to give you some punches for kissing me on the lips," growled Naruto, the memory etched into his mind.

Sasuke snapped. "You bastard! You were the one that fell and kissed me!"

This time, it was my friend's turn to snap. Reading the expression full of anger on his face, I grabbed Sasuke's arm from behind and caught him off guard. Naruto-nii aimed a punch for the face that would have surely left a scar once it made contact, but since the one we were ambushing was the "Number One Genius" of our class, our target used Kawarimi (substitution technique) and got away, leaving behind ten ten-dollar ryou bills drifting on the place where the prodigy stood. We underestimated him. Another mental note ran through my head, "_Underestimation is a ninja's worst enemy._" I looked at Naruto-nii. He seemed more depressed than ever, not being able to punch his "Love Rival" in the face.

I counted the money. "Hey, don't be so down, Naruto-nii, we still have a hundred ryou to spare. Why don't we go get some ramen at Ichiraku's?"

* * *

><p>The night before the test, at home…<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto-nii punched here and there at a motionless rag doll, attached to the ceiling above his bed. I practiced doing a Kage Bunshin in my corner; at Ichiraku's, I asked how Naruto could cause damage with mere Bunshins. He explained that the kind of Bunshin he used was not the normal kind the Academy taught. I pleaded him to teach me the Justu, reasoning that by doing so, we could increase our chances of passing the evaluation. He inclined, and taught me the basics. I tried doing a Kage Bunshin at the restaurant. The result turned out to be only an image of myself, which faded shortly afterwards. At home, I made further progress with the technique: I was now able to clone up to four me. The yearning thought of being able to lie down and rest invaded us, but we resisted and imagined what redoubling a year at the Academy might be like. That pushed us on throughout the night.<p>

None of us were able to sleep; we were too preoccupied with training.

* * *

><p>AN: So… How was it? Able to accept the fact that there's a OC of mine barging into the story? Has the way how I write improved? What are your impressions? Leave reviews to tell me what you think about this!

BTW: It doesn't end here. I have the rest of the story in one doc, but I still need to write down some parts at the end. At the beginning, I wanted to finish writing the complete one shot before posting it but hey, it's almost the New Year, so why not post something up? The second part will come next year, as soon as I finish it…


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